A cry for help ... among a few hundred other cries for help

 

New member
Username: Negative_zero

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 2
Registered: Sep-04
my poor, flailing (and failing), hand-me-down Sony STR-DA50ES is on its last legs and i need to replace it sorta nowish. (;oD) i've narrowed my choices down to three, and i'm hoping you fine folks can help with the final decision. at the top of the heap are:

Denon AVR-2805
Yamaha RX-V1500
harman/kardon AVR 635

the Denon gets an 8.0 @ cnet and (perhaps even more importantly) an 8.7 from users it also gets good reviews all around and seems to be a forum favourite around here. the Yamaha comes in @ 8.3 on cnet but has no user reviews there, although elsewhere they seem to be pretty good too. the h/k isn't even reviewd yet on cnet, but it looks so good on paper (... and in person!) it also seems to have pretty darn good user reviews.

all are right around the 100 watt mark i'd like, although the Yamaha seems to have the advantage at 120 (even taking into account h/k's habitual power undratings). both the Denon and the Yamaha have lip-sync delay (Denon 200ms / Yamaha 240ms) but i can't seem to determine if the h/k has it so far. this may be a deal maker as i'm planning on using it with my soon to be built HTPC.

the rest of my equipment looks like this:

Fluance SX-HTB 5 speakers (http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html)
Fluance DB-200 12" 200 Watt sub (http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html)
Sony KV-27FS120 TV (soon to be replaced by Panasonic TH-42PD50U plasma)
Toshiba SD-6200 DVD player (likely to be replaced by the aforementioned HTPC)
Series 2 160hr TiVo
Scientific Atlanta 8300 STB/DVR (to be replaced by 8300HD model when the plasma comes in) (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/consumers_new/CableBoxes/8300.htm)

i'm sure there's more info that i'm missing (but i'm long winded enough) so feel free to ask. currently, i think i'm leaning towards the Yamaha. but that's likely to change ... i can be fickle like that (:oÞ) so, What do you guys think?
 

Silver Member
Username: Kano

Post Number: 457
Registered: Oct-04
You haven't picked any lemons. The answer is the one that produces the best sound coupled with your speakers, and less so the included features.

I own the Harman Kardon AVR430 from last year and can tell you I like the Logic 7 DSP and the good clean power it produces.
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 189
Registered: Mar-05
I've been told that the Fluance speakers are a bit on the bright side, especially the floorstanders---the HK being the warmest of those 3 receivers, would probably balance that out the best.

No substitute for auditioning yourself of course, preferably at home on your own equipment.

As Kano said, you will likely be happy with any of those 3 receivers, especially compared to your old Sony.
 

Silver Member
Username: Touche6784

Post Number: 262
Registered: Nov-04
just out of curiosity, did you come up with the list by simplying going to cnet.com and picking the top 3? you do know that there are many other companies that make equal or better recievers at the same price point? if you are willing to dish out over $600 just on your reciever i would audition them like kano and edster have suggested. dont use cnet as a reference. they miss out on a lot of companies that make very good products. they hardly ever mention marantz, NAD, ADCOM, rotel, velodyne, B&W(only a couple), KEF(only a couple), Mission, and many other compaies. not to say what they have reviewed are bad, just there is a much bigger world than what cnet provides.
 

New member
Username: Negative_zero

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 3
Registered: Sep-04
thanks for the quick responses guys.

i did use cnet to start things going. i also did some reading here, at audioholics and at avs ... mostly. yeah, cnet does tend to leave out a lot of companies (like those that don't advertise with them and anyone outside of the major manufacturers), but i figured it was as good a place to start as any.

i'm no audiophile but i do want good sound and i believe an informed consumer will usually make smarter choices, so, here i am. there is one thing i'm qurious about though ...

everyone always says stuff like "[audition them] yourself ... preferably at home on your own equipment." this sounds to me like (and i am paraphrasing here) "buy all three, compare them at home and then return the two you don't want." is that a fair translation? or am i missing something?

all that said, does anyone have any practical experience with any of these three?
 

Silver Member
Username: Touche6784

Post Number: 264
Registered: Nov-04
i think people will agree when i suggest that you go to a store and listen to the three of them. which ever one catches your fancy take it home and try it out with your system. if you like it then i think you will be done. if it is not what you expected try fiddling with speaker settings and speaker placement, room tweeks. if that still doesnt help try a different reciever. if you go to a good hifi store, if one is close by, im sure they can give you a reccommendation that fits your needs. if the fluances are bright, you may not like them paired to yamaha since they are also bright over emphasizing the highs. the denon or hk would mellow it out. but it all depends on your own preference and the best way really is to listen to them.
 

Silver Member
Username: Kano

Post Number: 458
Registered: Oct-04
All three are solid receivers that will offer plenty of power and all have comprable features.

As Edster said, if your speakers tend to be bright, you may want to mellow the sound out a bit with a warmer receiver. If you don't have a dealer that will let you try a product for a few days, I suggest taking a pair of the Fluances into stores to find the best match. Bring along some CD/DVDs that you've found fatigueing in the past at louder volumes. It's a balance between detail and smoothness, every listener has their own preference. I like to play everything rather loud so I prefer a warmer sound such that surround sound effects in video games, for example, don't become annoying after a short while.
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 191
Registered: Mar-05
Donovan,

I like Kano's advice of taking in your speakers (just a pair) to the shops and trying them out there, though I have heard of people buying 3 different items and returning the ones they don't choose.

Personally I'd fine the second option to be ethically problematic unless you're dealing with some huge big-box chain store (Best Buy, Frys, etc.) which can easily afford it.

Plus it's hard these days to find any smaller audio store that would give you a 100% non-defective refund, or they always have a 10-20% restocking fee. I did find one small audio store in my city which allowed in-home auditions of *floor models* provided a give them some sort of collateral.

That second option is more doable with Internet-only dealers, esp. speakers. I do know of a few Internet vendors that are very nice about non-defective refunds, like crutchfield.com (though their prices are not very good) which refunded me for some car audio stuff very quickly, no questions asked.
 

New member
Username: Negative_zero

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 4
Registered: Sep-04
i wasn't too thrilled with the buy-3-return-1 prospect either. i really do like the h/k, but i've to conclusively determine if it has lip-sync or not. my-soon-to-be HTPC may make that a must-have feature.

also i'm [i]slightly[/i] concerened about it power rating. while i know i'll likely never listen to it that loud, a friend pointed out that overall clarity is roughly a percentage of overal power (i'm likely oversimplifying here, so please forgive me).

therefore, the lower power rating may cause me to run into clarity/distortion problems at lower levels than the other receivers. (i like to listen loud.) *sigh* oh well. i guess i'll find out on tuesday when i finally buy one.

i do have one other concern. i had to move my sub from its original location, 'cause it kept knocking my wife's pictures off the shelves. worse yet, her heavy metal frames have fallen [i]onto[/i] my sub a few times! now i have three little dents in the top. :eek:

the problem is, to me, the bass now sounds very muddy, and i can now pinpoint the direction that the bass is coming from. of course, it doesn't sound any different to her! lol do you think eq-ing the sub would be able to dramatically improve this? or should i just experiment with alternative sub locations?
(see here for what i mean: http://www.charliemag.net/images/livrm.jpg)

thanks again all!
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 199
Registered: Mar-05
Have you tried turning the sub so it faces in different directions? Another option is to elevate the sub (assuming your sub isn't downward firing)---I had some extra 16" speaker stands so I put my computer's Logitech subwoofer on it, which eliminated the boominess perfectly. You could experiment by just using a phone book maybe. The higher it's elevated, the less boomy it will get.
 

New member
Username: Negative_zero

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 5
Registered: Sep-04
well, the driver fires forward, but the port fires downward. which do you mean?
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 202
Registered: Mar-05
With a downward firing port elevating it will be trickier because covering the port will change the sound. You can try it though, some people have actually stuffed their sub port with a towel. Always all sorts of experimentation possible with subs!
 

Bronze Member
Username: Virus5877

West Lafayette, Indiana USA

Post Number: 19
Registered: Apr-05
We just installed the HK 635 at work (I work at a small town electronics store) and we have it running the Infinity Beta series 7.1 surround. Infinitys' are bright just like the fluents, and they sound amazing. The 635 does have lip sync, and you can specify the time delay in 20ms intervals. ever since setting the thing up, i have been trying to convince myself that I can't afford one, because i really want to run out with my next paycheck and bring one home!
 

Bronze Member
Username: Audioholic

Post Number: 18
Registered: Apr-05
Buy the H/K
 

New member
Username: Negative_zero

Brooklyn, NY United States

Post Number: 6
Registered: Sep-04
well, i did end upo buying the h/k. i must admit that at first i wasn't completely happy with the sound. it seemed a bit thin to me but then, i like my sound to be bottom heavy.

then i decided to try moving my sub before i auditioned another one and whoa mama! turns out that was my problem all along. lousy sub placement.

just this evening i was working in my home-office and literally had to run out to the living room to see what my wife was watching. even down the hall, the sound is amazing! turns out she was at the sand storm in Hidalgo. sweeeeeeeeeet!

me = happy camper!

thanks guys!
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